JASON Koumas spent the weekend pondering his future as rumours swept around Prenton Park that he is about to leave Tranmere Rovers for Everton rather than West Bromwich Albion.

Tranmere went public on Albion's #2million-plus offer for the Wales international midfielder last week.

But Everton have been strongly linked with a move for Koumas since David Moyes succeeded Walter Smith as manager at Goodison on Thursday.

I understand there has been contact between the two Merseyside clubs, although Everton last night denied any move was imminent, while Albion are keenly awaiting a response from Koumas to their offer of personal terms.

Koumas, 22, has reservations about joining first division promotion chasers Albion, a move that would almost certainly oblige him to spend some of the working week living in the West Midlands.

A transfer to Everton would not tear him away from his close-knit family in Wallasey and would fulfil his ambition to play at a higher level.

After completing what might well have been his final game for Tranmere in a goalless draw with Bournemouth on Saturday, Koumas said he was "still in negotiations and thinking about the future".

Koumas has attracted Moyes' interest before. He kept close tabs on the youngster's progress at Tranmere while he was in charge at Preston North End.

Now he has funds available to help Everton in the battle to preserve their Premiership status and he knows the kind of price Tranmere are ready to accept for their most talented player.

Tranmere boss Dave Watson, meanwhile, absolved his marksmen from blame as the goalless draw with Bournemouth at Prenton Park left their promotion hopes looking more remote than ever. After his side had been held to a sixth draw in eight games, Watson lamented: "If we can get quality balls into the box, we have strikers who can put those chances away.

"But there is nothing they can do if the ball goes behind for a goal-kick or goes straight to the goalkeeper or to a defender.

"We worked the ball into good areas to put crosses into the box right through the game but our final ball was terrible yet again.

"We are working on it on the training ground and we are going to work on it some more."

Tranmere's ambitions of qualifying for the play-offs looked to be hanging by the thread of making up six points of ground on sixthplaced Bristol City over the final seven games of the division two campaign.

The other teams in the play-off zone are threatening to move beyond Tranmere's reach, with fifth-placed Huddersfield now 10 points ahead.